B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy speaks during a news conference as students enjoy a hot lunch at Ruth King Elementary in Langford, B.C., Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
VICTORIA – British Columbia Finance Minister Katrine Conroy has tabled a budget that forecasts deficits totalling $11 billion over the next three years, in contrast to this year’s hefty surplus.
Big-ticket expenditures include almost $6.4 billion in new health funding, with about $1 billion for mental health and addictions services, while housing gets an additional $4.2 billion.
Economic growth is forecast to drop to 0.4 per cent in 2023, down from 2.8 per cent last year, but Conroy says the government won’t respond to uncertainty with cuts or reduced services, because “that’s not what British Columbians want.”
The budget includes a commitment to free contraception, increased disability and income assistance rates, and an income-tested tax credit for renters of up to $400.
Spending already undertaken by Premier David Eby’s government is forecast to reduce the 2022-2023 surplus to $3.6 billion, while deficits of $4.2 billion, $3.8 billion and $3 billion are projected over the next three years.
Conroy says the government has been “putting the surplus to work, now,” and such a windfall is “unlikely to happen again.”
The Finance Ministry says the government is investing $4.5 billion to combat inflation over three years, with new spending and tax breaks.
Conroy says in Tuesday’s speech to the legislature that the budget will help British Columbians “weather the storm” of global forces, including inflation and the predicted economic slowdown.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2023.
